The Inconsistencies of Earth Day

Earth Day: Revered by the irreligious and ignored by the religious. There are of course exceptions to these stereotypes, but I think that is generally the case. And I find it strange. If we were faithful to our philosophies, shouldn’t the opposite be true?

The majority of those leading the charge to protect the Earth also believe the Earth and the life it supports are a meaningless accident on a collision course for a meaningless extinction. The universe is not a sacred creation infused with dignity and nobility by a Creator; it is an impersonal chaos of chance that we, the most developed of all meaningless matter, project dignity and nobility upon.

So why should we care?

If life is nothing more than the infinitely improbable aftermath of a primordial soup, an infinitely minuscule blip within the vastness of space and time, then why should anyone care about preserving it? It doesn’t take Friedrich Nietzsche to point out the utter pointlessness of trying to conserve a tiny spark in the measureless darkness of the universe. If anything, the secular materialist should be exploiting this vain planet for every last ounce of personal enjoyment before they themselves have to join its nothingness existence in death.

But evangelicals have no room for boasting, for this day only highlights our own inconsistencies. Are you not ashamed that those who deny a Creator seem more concerned about caring for His creation? I fear all the political debate has formed a reactionary tribe that actually boasts in abusing creation for our own consumerist greed.

I hope you know that tendency is a fallen tendency.

Since the fall, humanity has related to creation as a cruel exploiter, but that certainly wasn’t the design of the Creator. In Genesis 1, God set mankind apart and entrusted to us the holy and noble calling of having dominion over creation. We are accustomed to sinful dominion, which inevitably leads to abuse, but the dominion God original entrusted to humanity was a humble authority that led to the flourishing of creation. We were called to be stewards of the universe, caringly bringing order, beauty, culture, innovation, and all the other potentials of this glorious and unbridled creation, not for our own selfish purposes, but for the purposes of God and the good of creation. That’s not to say that creation was not made for mankind to enjoy. To be enjoyed is the greatest glory of creation. But we were called to enjoy it properly.

Instead, humanity is destroying God’s good creation, exploiting it to feed our unquenchable appetite for more. And sadly, the very ones who are called to redeem creation are uncritically joining in the exploitation. Shame on us! Nobody should be more passionate for the well-being of creation than worshipers of the Creator. In Genesis 1, God mandated every day as Earth Day, and the duty belongs to the people of God to reclaim that mandate.

So on this Earth day, may all these lovers of creation, start caring about the Creator. And may all these lovers of the Creator, start caring for the creation.